


Day 1: Family Day

by notcrypticbutcoy



Series: Malec Week 2016 [1]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguments, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Magnus and Alec are good parents, Malec, Malec Week, Malec Week 2016, Post-Book Series: The Mortal Instruments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:18:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcrypticbutcoy/pseuds/notcrypticbutcoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec doesn't expect the warm, heartfelt hug he gets from his son when he comes home. And, ironically, that's exactly how he knows that something it wrong. Rafael isn't big on hugs.</p><p>Or: In which Rafael's upset, Magnus is exhausted, and this is what happens when Alec's been away for three days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 1: Family Day

**Author's Note:**

> So. Malec Week again. I guess this means it's pretty much exactly a year since I first started writing Malec fanfiction. Which is actually pretty exciting. Set about two-three years after Lady Midnight. So, enjoy!

Alec was on his twenty-eighth hour of no sleep when he reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to their loft. Every muscle in his body seemed to ache, and he knew he needed to stop and draw some _iratzes_ on his shoulder before he took his jacket off. The sensation of a Ravener demon's claws sinking into his flesh after a long, tiring day on patrol had not been welcome.

That was the last time he'd be saving Jace's ass while he tried to show off in front of Clary, thank you very much. Why Jace felt the need to behave so recklessly just to prove how great he was after so many years of knowing Clary was a mystery to Alec.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, pulling his stele from his belt, and pushed his jacket off his shoulder to get at the wound. It wasn't infected with demon poison, and it would clear up fine with an _iratze_ in fifteen minutes, but he couldn't go home with his shoulder gaping open like that. Not because Magnus would freak out about it - not anymore, at least, although he would fuss in that slightly worried, mostly caring and gentle way of his - but because his kids would.

Well. Max wouldn't. In Max's world, it was perfectly normal for Alec to disappear at all sorts of odd hours, and return covered in blood, ichor, and vile-smelling fluids. For practically all of Max's life, that was what he'd been used to. And he'd worked out that, even when it looked bad, Papa, or Uncle Jace, or the magic stele, always made Daddy better.

Rafael, though... Rafael was different.

It had been two years since Alec had found Rafael in Buenos Aires, homeless, starving, and terrified of the strange things he could see. It had taken many, many long months, sleepless nights, and sometimes-violent tantrums to acclimatise Rafael to a safe, loving home. He'd struggled with the idea that he was genuinely wanted by Alec and Magnus. He'd struggled with human interaction. He'd struggled immensely with separation anxiety.

Raziel, he still did. But he'd got better. He was still getting better. But he still found it hard to be apart from both his parents. He needed to know where they were to feel safe. They'd learnt the hard way that Rafael hated them disappearing without warning when they'd gone to Taki's café one day, all four of them, and Alec had got up to order their drinks at the bar, where Rafael couldn't see him, resulting in an enormous freak-out that had only been resolved by Alec returning and wrapping Rafael tight in his arms, rocking him back and forth soothingly while Magnus stroked his hair.

At least the tantrums had ended, though. There'd been a time when Rafael would throw things around, scream and cry and shut himself him the bathroom until Magnus was forced to use magic to let himself in and make sure he wasn't hurting himself or doing anything dangerous. Max, bless him, had decided that the way to comfort his big brother was to bring him fluffy animals. Rafael had thrown those, too; Max just brought them back, every time Rafael had a tantrum, until his quiet persistence paid off, and Rafael stopped throwing them away.

So Alec had made an effort not to come home bloody and in tatters, because the last thing he wanted to do was give Rafael any reason to be fearful—of him or for him. If he had any injuries that couldn't be covered up, he'd text Magnus ahead of time so he could make sure Rafael wouldn't see him come home, and Alec could deal with his injuries in the bathroom before his kids even noticed he'd got home—with Magnus' help, if necessary.

After he'd finished drawing _iratzes_ and had slipped his stele away, Alec pulled his jacket off and turned it inside-out, because it was covered in blood. Some of it his, but most of it Jace's. His _parabatai_ wasn't severely injured, but he'd bled a lot. Clary had slapped him. Alec had wondered why he'd ever disliked her.

Deeming himself appropriate, Alec unlocked the front door and opened his mouth to call out to his family and tell them he was home. But before he'd even stepped fully over the threshold, a flash of red and brown and black hurtled at his legs, and arms wrapped around his thighs.

Alec froze in surprise for a moment, before he rested his hand gently on top of Rafael's curly hair. "Hey, Rafe."

"Hi," Rafael said, voice muffled by Alec's gear.

Frowning, Alec pulled his key out of the lock and stepped fully inside their loft, before pushing the door shut behind him. Rafael didn't let go. He could hear Magnus and Max in the kitchen, Magnus laughing while Max babbled something Alec couldn't quite make out.

Alec ran his fingers through Rafael's hair, hoping that something would explain his son's bizarre behaviour. Not that he was complaining at such an enthusiastic greeting after far too long away from his family (and more than two days was absolutely too long) but Rafael had never greeted him like this before. By the Angel, when they'd first taken Rafael in, he'd hated being touched. It had been more than a year before he wanted to hug them.

Rafael didn't say anything, after a minute or so of Alec stroking his hair, so Alec decided to ditch his things before he tried to find out what was going on.

"Rafe, just let me take my things off, okay?" he said, brushing his hand down to his son's shoulder.

"Okay." Rafael's voice sounded small, but he let go of Alec, and stood still, a slightly nervous expression on his face, while Alec undid his belt, took off his boots, bow and quiver, and put his jacket down, before he turned back to Rafael.

He glanced up towards the kitchen for just a moment. Surely if something was really wrong, Magnus would have come out? Or maybe Max had been upset about something, so Magnus didn't want to leave him, but it had bothered Rafe, too? But then, Magnus would have noticed. Magnus always noticed when something was upsetting the boys.

"Alright." Alec bent down in front of Rafael and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "Are you going to tell me what's the matter, or do I have to ask Papa?"

Rafael looked down at his feet and shrugged. _Hm_.

"What did you do today?" he asked instead, because it was clear that Rafael wasn't interested in talking about it.

Rafael's eyes lifted up to meet his. "Papa made breakfast," he said, a slight hesitance to his voice. "And you still weren't home."

"No," Alec agreed, smiling apologetically. "I'm very sorry. I'll be here all day tomorrow, though, I promise."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Okay." Rafael smiled at him. "Papa was teaching Max about how to move things with magic, so Max was trying to make things fly at me–" Alec grinned at that "–and then we watched tv."

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Is that it? All day? You must have watched a lot of tv."

Rafael shrugged. "We had lunch."

"What are they doing now?"

"Max is painting Papa's nails."

"Oh?" Alec's eyebrows hitched up higher. Painting Magnus' nails (and, he was not ashamed to admit, once in a blue moon,  _his_ ) had become a bonding experience for his family. Max and Rafael usually took a hand each, picking out a colour from a few options Magnus would give them and then bending over Magnus's fingers and diligently dragging those tiny brushes over each nail. Magnus usually tidied up the edges and the splotchy bits with magic, but he didn't tell them that. "Why aren't you helping?"

Rafael shrugged. Alec narrowed his eyes. Something was going on. He'd be damned if he didn't find out what.

"Well, I'm hungry, even if you've already had Papa make you breakfast and lunch," Alec said. "How about you let me have a shower, and then we can find something for dinner?"

Rafael nodded, and gripped onto Alec's proffered hand, following him into Alec and Magnus' bedroom. Once Rafael had situated himself on the bed, Alec grabbed a pair of boxers and sweatpants, and made sure Rafael watched him go into the bathroom before he shut the door.

Magnus would give him one of those _Really, Alexander?_ looks when he saw that Alec had discarded his dirty gear in the corner of their bathroom, Alec thought, as he showered quickly, inspected his shoulder injury - which had almost cleared up - and dried himself off. It couldn't be helped, he supposed. He needed to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering Rafael.

Alec emerged from the bathroom only a few minutes after he'd gone in (there were some upsides to growing up with freezing cold, military showers) and tugged on a t-shirt. Rafael had his attention on Chairman Meow, who'd made his home on Magnus' pillow. The two were having a staring contest. Alec smiled to himself. At least Rafael had never tried to pull Chairman's tail, unlike Max, who'd had to be scratched before he'd worked out that the fluffy kitty didn't like have his tail yanked. Magnus had been incredibly freaked out about that, for hours, much to Alec's amusement. The scratch hadn't bled, but Max had screamed—probably more in shock than in pain.

"Come on, you," Alec said to Rafael. "Let's find something to eat. What do you fancy?"

Rafael bit his lip, looking thoughtful. "Omelette?"

"Omelette? I think we can manage that. You gonna help?"

Rafael nodded.

"Alright, then. Go and see if we've got any eggs in the fridge while I say hello to Papa and Max. Be careful. If you can't reach them, I'll get them."

He didn't want Rafael attempting countertop gymnastics, like he had once, early on in his time with Magnus and Alec, when Magnus had asked him to get some butter, not realising that Alec had put it up on the top shelf.

"Hey, Magnus," Alec said, resting his hand on his husband's shoulder and leaning down to kiss him. "Hi, Max."

"Daddy!" Max jumped up excitedly, the bottle of nail varnish saved by Alec's quick reactions.

"Careful," Alec chastised him, opening his arms to scoop Max up into a hug. Max gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, and wrapped his little blue arms around his neck while Alec held him securely against his side.

"You've been gone _ages_ ," Max said. "I missed you."

Alec's heart melted. "I didn't realise I was so popular." He tickled Max's stomach lightly, making his son giggle. "I promise I'll be here all day tomorrow. But don't you have to finish painting Papa's nails?"

An odd look came over Max's face for just a moment, before he nodded, suddenly quiet. Alec frowned at Magnus as he put Max down, setting him back on the chair, and Max resumed his work on Magnus' nails.

"Where's Rafe?" Magnus asked.

Alec's frown deepened. "He's right—" Oh. Rafael, apparently, hadn't followed him all the way into the kitchen. "He was right behind me. What's going on?"

Magnus shook his head, looking pointedly at Max. "I'll tell you later."

Alec inclined his head, squeezing Magnus' shoulder as he walked past and called Rafael's name. He found him on the sofa a moment later, curled up small so he couldn't be seen from the kitchen.

"Hey." Alec sat down beside him. "What's the matter?"

Rafael shrugged.

"Has Papa tired you out, making you watch TV all day?"

He shrugged again.

"Are you coming to help me with dinner, or are you staying here?"

Another shrug.

"At least come and sit with Papa and Max in the kitchen," Alec tried.

Rafael shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to."

"I can see that. But why?"

"I just don't."

A sudden thought hit Alec. "Have you had an argument with Papa?"

Silence.

"Alright. You don't have to tell me. I'll be back in a little bit, okay? We're all going to be in the kitchen. You're very welcome to join us if you'd like to."

"Okay."

Alec bent to press a kiss to Rafael's temple, then made his way back over to Max and Magnus in the kitchen. Magnus looked tired, Alec noted. There were bags beginning to form under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept well last night, and his eyes were weary.

Max appeared to have finished painting Magnus' nails. When Alec walked into the kitchen, Magnus caught his eye, and said something to Max, who bounded up and headed past Alec to where Rafael was on the sofa.

"Go away," he heard Rafael say, to which Max replied, "Nope. I wanna watch Phineas and Ferb."

Alec sunk down in the chair next to Magnus and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Magnus leant into him, pressing his face into Alec's shoulder, and sighed heavily, slumping a little against his side.

"What happened?" Alec asked, fingers sliding up into Magnus' hair comfortingly, because it was clear that this - whatever this was - had bothered Magnus as well as Rafael.

"It's so stupid," Magnus mumbled. "I don't even understand how it became such a big deal."

"You and Rafael fell out, right?"

"This is what happens when you and your calming presence go on patrol for three days."

Alec smiled a little. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's just—" Magnus sat up and rubbed at his eyes, smearing his eyeliner. "Damn," he muttered, wiping at the spot he'd just smeared, only to make it worse. "Oh, for—"

"Hey." Alec caught Magnus' hands in his. "Calm down. You're at home, it doesn't matter."

Magnus glared at him. "Suggesting I shouldn't put my best effort in for my family?"

"Suggesting I know you look beautiful no matter what already, so it's not exactly going to bother me. Make-up or no make-up or ruined make-up."

Magnus deflated. He turned his hands over in Alec's to lace their fingers together, while Rafael snapped at Max in the other room, telling him to give him the remote. The sounds of kid's cartoons met their ears a moment later, followed by an exaggeratedly enthusiastic thank you from Max.

Honestly, Alec loved his kids so much.

"It was so silly," Magnus told him. "They were painting my nails, and Max made some comment about his being neater than Rafe's. Rafael told him that was because I was using magic to clean up his, and that I'd clean up Rafael's later, too." Magnus shook his head. "Rafael's been in a bit of a sour mood all day. I don't think he slept very well. But I said that Max was doing just fine on his own, and Rafael got annoyed, and told me he wasn't stupid, he knew things, he wasn't a little kid who was oblivious anymore..." Magnus trailed off bitterly.

Alec rubbed up and down Magnus' arm, and squeezed his hand. "And then?"

Magnus groaned. "Then I was stupid. I tried to calm him down, because he was working himself up over nothing, you know how he gets." Alec nodded, but didn't interrupt. "But he wasn't listening to me, and for some reason, I decided it would be a great idea to shout at him." He sighed heavily. "I don't know what possessed me to do something so stupid. Well, it got him to calm down." Magnus chuckled self-deprecatingly. "He ran off to cry in the hallway. I tried to talk to him, but he screamed at me and told me to go away, and that he was only going to talk to you."

Well, at least things made sense now. Rafael hated shouting. Frankly, Alec hated shouting, too, so he could sympathise entirely, but Rafael seemed to associate shouting with the idea that he wasn't good enough, or with people hating him, or wanting him to disappear. He'd overheard Alec shouting at Jace, once, and had been worried that Uncle Jace would disappear from his life. So he was probably scared that Magnus didn't want him anymore.

They weren't quite sure how to deal with Rafael's aversion to conflict. They'd never been big on shouting, even before they'd had Rafe and Max. Not at each other. They'd snap at each other, or ignore each other for a while, but Alec usually reserved his shouting for Jace, who really, really deserved it. They'd tried to be careful about shouting around Rafael. But they were only human.

Well. Half-human.

"It's okay," Alec murmured, pulling Magnus into his arms. Magnus' chin dug into his shoulder, but Alec didn't care. "It was bound to happen at some point. It'll be fine."

"Shouting at my kids, Alec?" Magnus asked. "At our kids? What's wrong with me? I shout at clients. I shout at bigoted Shadowhunters. I shout at your _parabatai_. I don't shout at my family. Especially not Rafe."

Alec raised his eyebrows. "I think Jace counts as your family, Magnus."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I don't shout at you or Max or Rafael."

"You're tired," Alec stated, "and you've had them on your own for three days straight, without a break. I think you can be forgiven."

"I'm four hundred years old. I'm meant to have some self-control."

Alec kissed Magnus' temple, long and soft and lingering, breathing in the familiar smell of coffee and sandalwood and that burnt-sugar scent of magic for a moment. He felt Magnus relax a little at the contact.

"And they're our kids. They're meant to drive us insane. Rafael will forgive you. You know he will."

Magnus buried his face in the crook of Alec's neck, fingers gripping the back of his t-shirt. "Sometimes, I think maybe I'm really not good enough at this parenting thing."

"Too late," Alec said, kissing him again, on his hair his time. "You should have told me that five years ago."

Magnus sighed. "And give up my little blueberry? Never."

"There you go then." He leant back, catching Magnus' eye. "Rafe loves you just as much as Max does, Magnus."

"And I love him, too. I just... It's so frustrating."

"I know. I know. But look at how far Rafe has come. You can't look at him and tell me you're a bad parent. He couldn't really even speak English when we found him."

"I think his language skills are more down to him than me."

"Maybe," Alec agreed, "but you were patient. You persevered. You made an effort to communicate with him. You learnt some of his language. You used what you already knew to help you."

" _We_."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Fine. _We_ did. But that's not the point."

"I know. You're right, of course."

Alec swiped his thumb gently under Magnus' eye, where he'd smeared his eyeliner, and said, "I'll go talk to Rafe if you make dinner. He wanted omelette."

"Deal."

Alec leant in and pressed a kiss to Magnus' lips, firm but slow. Magnus made a tiny noise in the back of his throat when Alec nipped on his lower lip, before they pulled apart.

"Hi," Alec whispered, their faces too close to be completely in focus.

"Welcome home, darling."

Alec smiled, and kissed Magnus' nose, causing his face to crinkle up adorably. "Careful," Alec whispered teasingly. "You'll get crow's feet if you do that."

Magnus grinned. "Signs of how happy I am. There are worse things."

And he was serious, Alec realised. He felt touched by the sentiment Magnus was expressing, although he wasn't sure why it surprised him. Magnus was always saying ridiculously sweet things like that.

"I love you," Alec said, rather than voicing his thoughts out loud.

Magnus' expression softened. "I love you too."

***

Once Magnus had started up on dinner, calling Max in to help, Alec sat down beside Rafael. He didn't say anything, Rafael's eyes fixed unseeingly on the cartoon Max had been watching, but, after a moment, Rafael shifted, and lay down so his head rested on Alec's thigh, curling himself up against Alec in a way strangely reminiscent of the way Alec often curled against Magnus, when he'd had a long, painful, exhausting day, and they'd put Rafael and Max to sleep.

Alec ran his fingers through Rafael's hair slowly, watching as his son's eyes fluttered closed, tension bleeding out of his small body with every passing minute. That had been the first way Magnus and Alec had found of successfully comforting Rafael by touch—stroking his hair. Long before he'd shown any signs of wanting to be hugged, he'd drawn comfort from this.

"You know," Alec said, very quietly, "that Papa loves you, don't you?"

Rafael's eyes opened, fixing once again on the TV. He made a shrugging motion.

"Well, he does," Alec told him, firmly, but not unkindly. "He loves you, and I love you, and Max loves you. All your family love you, Rafe. You're safe here. We love you."

"But Papa was angry with me."

"Yes." Alec kept stroking Rafael's hair. "Yes, he was. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love you."

"Then why did he shout at me?"

"Because he was angry. And because sometimes we do silly things when we're angry."

Rafael was quiet for a moment. Then: "I was scared."

"I know. Papa knows, too. He didn't mean to make you scared. But I promise, even if we're angry with you, even if we shout at you, we still love you, and we still want to look after you."

"Is being angry a bad thing?"

Alec thought for a moment before he answered. "Well, it's not always a bad thing," he said carefully. "Being angry can make people do things they wouldn't do otherwise. Which can be good or bad. But it's a normal thing. It's a human thing. Everybody gets angry sometimes. And it's okay to be angry. You just have to work out how to deal with it. And you're not always going to deal with it perfectly, but you try, and you learn, because that's all part of being human, and being a good person."

Rafael nodded, picking at a hole in Alec's sweatpants. "You hardly ever seem to get angry. You and Papa."

Alec smiled. "Wanna know a secret?"

Rafael craned his neck to look up at him. "What?"

"Papa and I get angry all the time. Mostly about work. Sometimes with people we love. But we've been learning how to deal with being angry for much longer than you have."

Rafael watched him with wide eyes. "Do you get angry with each other?"

"Of course we do."

Rafe frowned. "But you still love each other."

"Yes. Lots."

"All the time? Always?"

"Yes."

Rafael chewed on his lower lip, appearing deep in thought. "Have you always loved Papa? All the time you've known him?"

Alec smiled, thinking back, back to the first time their eyes had met, back to the first time Magnus had touched him, the first time Magnus had called him _Alexander_ , soft and affectionate, which had also been the first time he hadn't hated that name...

"Yeah," he said. Because even if he maybe hadn't loved Magnus from the moment their eyes had met, he'd loved him for so, so long, it felt like he'd loved Magnus forever, even though it wasn't even half his life. "Yeah, I have."

"You love him that much, but you still get angry with each other?"

Alec nodded, and said, "The people you love the most—they're the people who make you the angriest. Precisely because you love them so much. You want them to be safe, and to do the right thing, and to be happy, and all the time, they infuriate you, and they do things that make you terrified for them, and you argue with each other, and say things that hurt, because you love each other. That's why I get so angry with Uncle Jace when he does silly things and gets hurt. Because I love him."

Rafael stayed quiet for several long moments, Alec brushing hair behind his ears and back off his forehead, over and over again, slow and tender, giving Rafe a chance to process and the space to speak without being interrupted. God knew he'd have appreciated a bit more of that as a child. Not everybody could think and speak instantaneously. Some people needed time. Particularly children. Rafe, it seemed, was more like Alec, in that respect.

"Why is Papa upset?" Rafael asked eventually.

Alec's fingers stilled for a moment in surprise, but he picked up his movements again. He didn't ask Rafael what made him think Magnus was upset: he wasn't going to insult Rafael's intelligence.

"Because you're upset," Alec replied. "You two got angry with each other, because you're tired and you haven't had much space to yourselves recently, which made you upset, and Papa's sad because he loves you and he doesn't want you to be upset."

"Oh." Rafael slumped a little against Alec's thigh. "I don't want to make Papa sad."

Well, now Rafe was just breaking his heart.

"I think you might both feel better if you go and talk to him," Alec said. "Tell him why you got angry in the first place, and tell him you're sorry, and he'll say the same things to you."

"Is that how you make up when you argue with him?"

"Of course. And hugs usually help."

Rafael smiled, before his expression slipped a little. "But I don't really know why I got angry."

"That's okay. Sometimes we don't know why we do things. Just explain whatever you can. But Rafe–" He touched the side of Rafael's face with the backs of his fingers "–we're always going to forgive you. Okay? We're your family. That's what family does."

Rafael nodded his understanding, hugged Alec quickly, then leapt off the sofa and padded into the kitchen.

Alec let himself rest back against the sofa. God, he loved his family, but they were exhausting.

***

It was only ten minutes later that Alec walked back into the kitchen, after getting a sudden call from Isabelle about the patrol they'd just been on and a potential follow-up. He'd nearly screamed when she'd told him that they'd need to go out tomorrow evening, until she informed him that he wasn't going to be needed, and that he should spend time with him family.

Had he mentioned that he loved his sister to pieces?

Max was sitting up on the edge of the counter, little legs swinging back and forth, giggling at something Magnus was saying. Magnus had Rafael held in one arm, and was sliding omelettes onto plates, a pile of buttered toast already sitting on the table. Rafael was playing with the ring Magnus wore around his neck ("In the time between now and when you put a wedding ring on my finger and kiss me as my husband, Alexander, I want you close to my heart," Magnus had said, when Alec had wondered why Magnus wore the ring ( _not_ an engagement ring, thank you Isabelle) Alec had given him as an anniversary present two years ago on a chain), and the line of Magnus' arm around him was tender.

They'd made up, then. That was good. Alec never wanted his family to go to bed angry with each other.

Alec took the plates from the counter, kissed Magnus quickly, and moved to set them on the table.

"Smells good," Alec commented. "I think maybe we've finally solved our take-out issue. Look at us. Cooking dinner from scratch."

Magnus smiled, shifting his hold on Rafe until Rafael had his arms loosely around Magnus' neck, hanging on like a koala. "I think there are more miraculous things in this tableau, darling."

"Oh?" Alec raised his eyebrows. "The fact that you still haven't fixed your make-up and don't seem to care?"

Magnus' eyes widened comically. Rafael and Max both giggled at his expression, and Alec bit down on his lip in an attempt to hide his grin.

"I was distracted," Magnus said, kissing the top of Rafael's head before setting him down. "Looking anything less than fabulous is not an option. You must know this by now, Alexander."

"Magnus." Alec caught his boyfriend (Boyfriend? Fiancé? Partner? Alec really didn't know what to refer to Magnus as anymore) by his shoulders and shook his head, grin softening. "We all know you're fabulous already."

"I should hope so." Magnus turned his head and kissed a fading strength rune on Alec's forearm, lifting his hands to run up and down Alec's arms in a strange sort of embrace. "I was actually going to get the orange juice, not fix my make-up. And..." Magnus snapped his fingers, blue sparks appearing, much to Max's delight, make-up disappearing entirely from his face. "That."

Alec rolled his eyes fondly. "You're infuriating, Magnus Bane."

"Mm. You should have realised that before you started bringing home children and asked me to marry you."

Alec couldn't help the slightly-shy smile that spread across his face. "I realised. I just love you anyway."

Magnus opened his mouth, but Max beat him to it.

"Papa," he said, sounding on the verge of whining, "can we _please_ have some orange juice?"

Alec sighed, and let his hands slip down Magnus' arms, lingering meaningfully. He'd barely had five minutes alone with Magnus in the last week.

"Of course, Blueberry," Magnus said, brushing his fingers across Alec's hip as he moved past him. "Coming right up."

Alec loved his family. Really, he did. Even if they were the most frustrating, anxiety-inducing people on the planet. He loved them to pieces.

**Author's Note:**

> This story basically came about because I have a lot of feelings about Rafael having lived most of his life on the streets, abandoned, and what that would do to his mental state.


End file.
